Reality

The Charlotte region is vast and diverse. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all. The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil.

• Do not use profanity or obscenities. And don't try to camouflage profanity with asterisks, abbreviations or other symbols or foreign phrases.
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We do not monitor each and every posting, but we reserve the right to block or delete comments that violate these rules.

You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" link. Users who continue posting comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked from submitting future comments as well.

And finally, as Mark Twain said: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

Enjoy the discussion.